Tenth Letter of the Alphabet

Monday, February 5, 2024

Comics: Gene Barnett, Illustrator, Painter, Sculptor, Etcher, Writer and Letterer

Eugene Asheton “Gene” Barnett was born on March 18, 1894, in Atlanta, Georgia, according to his World War I draft card and passport application which had his full name.

In the 1900 United States Census, Barnett (line 90) was the oldest of three children born to Eugene and Ida. They family were Nashville, Tennessee residents at 703 Shirley Street. His father was a clothing salesman.

The 1910 census counted Barnett (line 70), his parents and five siblings in Atlanta, Georgia at 4 Rosalia Street. Sixteen-year-old Barnett was a hardware salesman.

Every now and then, Barnett was mentioned in the society pages of The Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia). The September 27, 1914 edition said

On June 5, 1917, Barnett signed his World War I draft card. His address was 34 Rosalia Street. His description was short with blue eyes and brown hair. Barnett was a display man at Jacob Pharmacy in Marietta, Georgia.

Barnett’s registration was listed in The Constitution, July 13, 1917.

Barnett’s Georgia World War I service card said he enlisted on April 16, 1918 at the Navy Recruiting Station in Atlanta. He trained for radio electrician beginning at Newport, Rhode Island, then Cambridge, Massachusetts, and New York City. His rating was Electrician 2nd Class Radio. Barnett was discharged on March 10, 1919.

According to the 1920 census, Barnett (line 7) stayed at the YMCA, 215 West 23rd Street, in Manhattan. His was employed as an artist in the film industry. The American Art Annual, Volume 26, (1930; “Who’s Who in Art” section reprinted in Dictionary of American Artists: 19th & 20th Century (1982)), said Barnett was a student of Edward Penfield whose studio was at 163 West 23rd Street.

Barnett’s passport application was filed on June 23, 1922. The passport was issued four days later. In July he planned to visit several countries in Europe.

On September 14, 1922, Barnett (line 12) departed Le Havre, France. He arrived in the port of New York on September 23.

The American Art Annual said Barnett was an illustrator, painter (undated oil painting here), sculptor, etcher and writer, who worked at 522 Fifth Avenue, near 43rd Street, which was the address of the advertising agency, Robert M. McMullen Company. He was a member of the Society of Illustrators.

The 1930 census said Barnett was an advertising art director (line 30). His Manhattan address was 1 West 67th Street.

Two months after the census enumeration, Printers’ Ink, June 5, 1930, said

Eugene Barnett with Caples Company
Eugene Barnett, formerly with the Robert M. McMullen Company, New York, has joined the Caples Company, advertising agency, also of that city, as art director.

The Caples Company was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with branches in New York City and Tampa, Florida.

On October 2, 1930, Barnett and Florence M. Johns obtained, in Manhattan, marriage license number 24031. They married two days later.

News of the marriage was reported in the Spokane Chronicle (Washington), October 7, 1930.

Miss Florence Johns Will Wed in East
From New York comes the announcement that Miss Florence M. Johns, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William C. Johns of this city, and Eugene A. Barrett, son of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Barrett of Atlanta, will be married in New York this month. Miss Johns is an artist and has resided in New York city for several years. Mr. Barrett is in the advertising business. The couple procured their marriage license in New York October 2, announcing at that time they would be married later in the month.

In the 1940 census, the couple (lines 44 and 45) resided in Manhattan at 74 West 69th Street. Barnett was a freelance artist. It’s not clear when he left the Caples Company. His highest level of education was the fourth year of college. In 1939 Barnett earned $1,000.

At some point Barnett was a letterer at Harry “A” Chesler’s comic book shop which opened in 1936 at 276 Fifth Avenue at 30th Street and, by 1941, had moved to 163 West 23rd Street (Edward Penfield’s old studio address).

On April 26, 1942 Barnett signed his World War II draft card. His address and occupation were unchanged. He was described as five feet five inches, 150 pounds, with gray eyes and hair.

The Agency List #96, January 1949, said Barnett was art director at John A. Finneran, Inc., 1475 Broadway, New York.

The Official Directory, American Illustrators and Advertising Artists (1949) had an entry for Barnett.

40. Eugene Barnett
74 W. 69 St. TR 7-5149
New York 23, N. Y.
Advertising & Magazine
Illustration, Book Design
Rep. A. Gatterman

In 1950 Barnett (line 7) was a freelance artist at 74 West 69th Street. His wife was an accountant. He earned $3,200 in 1949.

Barnett passed away on December 21, 1954, in Manhattan according to the New York, New York Death Index at Ancestry.com. He was laid to rest at the Long Island National Cemetery.

(There was another person named Eugene Barnett who was a cartoonist. His daughter wrote a book about him.)

Jean Callahan, Helen Chu aka Duffy Mohler, Milton Cohen, Ellen Cole, Herb Cooper, Danny Crespi, Laurens Crossley,

Jon D’Agostino, James Daleo, Martin DeMuth, Shel Dorf, Marty Epp, Howard Ferguson, Herb Field,

Gerda Gattel, Selma Meyers Gleit, Louis L. Goldklang, Angelo Grasso, Anita Greene, Al Grenet, Ed Hamilton, Delores Heilman, Ray Holloway, IBM Directory, Alex Jay, Albert and Charlotte Jetter,

Abe Kanegson, George Kapitan, Anna Kaufman, Gary Keller, Rick Keller, Nadine French King, Ralph Komisarow, Grace Kremer, Morrie Kuramoto, Al Kurzrok,

Bob Lander, Bob Laughlin, Bob Leatherbarrow, Shelly Leferman, Len Leone, Joe Letterese, Veda Lufkin,

Robert N. MacLeod/Leroy Lettering, Lee Maroshek, Larry Mayer, Ed McLean, Jack Meltzer, Mel Millar, Jim Novak, Bill Oakley, Ben Oda,

Walter Palais, Stephen Palmisano, Charles Paris, Otto Pirkola, Fred Proctor, Jerry Robinson, Joe and Sam Rosen, George Roussos,

Georgette Sauterel, Ira Schnapp, Irving Settel, Rome Siemon, Artie Simek, Lora Sprang aka Pat Gordon, Herman Stackel, Stan Starkman, Daisy Swayze, Zoltan and Terry Szenics,

Richard Deane Taylor, Alberta Tews, Matthew Tweedy, Frank Vina, George Ward, Irv Watanabe, Irving Werstein, Leo Wurtzel, John Yakata, Bill Yoshida, Bernie Zuber

(Next post on Monday: Scrambled Feet (Plus a Few Details About Val Mayerik))

Monday, January 29, 2024

Comics: David I. Gaines and Evelyn Gaines, Writers and Relatives of M.C. Gaines

1923 Passport Photograph

David I. Gaines was born “Isaac Ginsberg” on December 13, 1896 in Manhattan, New York City, according to his birth certificate. The spelling of Ginsberg, with an E, was also found on census records. However, draft cards and a passport application spelled the surname with a U, Ginsburg. Gaines’ parents were Abraham and Rosie, Russian immigrants, who lived at 266 Cherry Street.

He was born after his brother Maxwell Charles Gaines, the founder of Educational Comics and All-American Publications.

The 1900 United States Census counted Gaines (Isidor, line 13) as the third of four brothers. They lived with their parents at 442 East 86th Street in Manhattan. Their father was a dealer in rags.

In the 1910 census, the family (lines 75 to 79) resided in the Bronx at 1819 Barnes Avenue.

According to the 1915 New York State Census, the family (lines 4 to 9) lived at 1735 Victor Street in the Bronx. Gaines was a college student. The New York Times, April 7, 1989, said he received bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Columbia University.

Gaines’ father passed away on September 3, 1917.

On June 24, 1918, Gaines signed his World War I draft card which included his middle initial X. He lived in the Bronx at 1819 Barnes Avenue. His description was five feet eleven inches, medium build, with blues eyes and brown hair.

Gaines has not yet been found in the 1920 census.

On November 5, 1923, Gaines applied for a passport at the American Consulate in Berlin, Germany. The application said he had been in England from December 1921 to October 1922 then in Germany from October 1922. He also listed other countries to visit, Belgium, Holland, France and Austria.

Gaines returned to America on August 24, 1924. He was aboard the steamship Columbus when it departed Cherbourg, France on August 17.

Gaines’ mother married Sam Starkman on February 14, 1922 in Manhattan.

The 1925 New York state census counted Gaines (line 23), his brother, William, mother and step-father, a furrier, in the Bronx at 1819 Barnes Avenue.

The New York, New York Marriage License Index, at Ancestry.com, said Gaines and Edith Quinn obtained, in Brooklyn, marriage license number 9666 on June 6, 1929. Who’s Who of American Women Volume 8 (1973) said they married on June 11.

In the 1930 census, the couple (lines 51 and 52) lived at 3960 46th Street in Sunnyside, Queens, New York. He was a college teacher and she an insurance stenographer.

According to the 1940 census, Gaines had two daughters. The family of four were Brooklyn residents at 1496 Union Street. He was a professor at City College.

On April 27, 1942, Gaines signed his World War II draft card which had his name as Isidore Xerxes Ginsburg. His address was 1838 East 24th Street in Brooklyn. He was a teacher at City College. Gaines was described as five feet eleven inches, 175 pounds, with blue eyes angry hair. His surname, Ginsburg, was crossed out and replaced with Gaines. His birth certificate indicated the change was approved by Commissioner of Health on March 19, 1946.

In 1947, Gaines contributed three articles to his brother’s comic books: “The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” in Picture Stories from World History #1, Spring 1947; “The Story of Labor Organizations” in Picture Stories from American History #4, Summer 1947; and “Feudalism” in Picture Stories from World History #2, Summer 1947.

The 1950 census said Gaines was a history instructor at City College. His family lived at 521 West 111th Street in Manhattan.

1950 Microcosm, City College of New York yearbook

Caption: Gaines Cox Fenton Brandt Zeichner

Gaines retired in 1967 after 40 years at City College.

On September 19, 1988, Gaines’ wife, Edith, passed away.

Gaines passed away on March 23, 1989, in New York City. An obituary appeared in Perspectives: Newsletter of the American Historical Association, November 1989.

David I. Gaines, a member of the History Department of the College of the City of New York for forty years, died on March 23, 1989 in New York, NY at the age of 92. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University. An authority on modern European history, especially the development of German national symbolism, he was esteemed for his scholarship, dedication to teaching, and concern for his students. Professor Kenneth Arrow of Stanford University, the 1972 Nobel Prize winner in economics, named Dr. Gaines in history and Dr. Alfred Tarski in logic as the two great teachers he had had at City College. He is survived by two daughters.

* * * * * * * * *

Evelyn Gaines was born Evelyn D. Ginsburg on May 26, 1919, in the Bronx, New York, according to the New York, New York Birth Index at Ancestry.com. Her parents were Benjamin Ginsburg (the older brother of Maxwell Charles Gaines), and Celia Brown who married on May 11, 1916 in Brooklyn, New York.

The 1920 United States Census counted the family (lines 4 to 6) in the Bronx at 441 East 161st Street. Gaines’ father was a self-employed pharmacist.

In the 1930 census, Gaines (line 67), her parents and brother, Arthur, were Manhattan residents at 3671 Broadway. Her father was a real estate manager. Sometime after 1935, the family moved to Queens, New York.

The 1940 census recorded the Ginsburg family (lines 37 to 40) at 214-38 Hillside Avenue in Queens Village, New York. Gaines was a stenographer working in the advertising industry. Her highest level of education was the second year of college. Gaines’ father was a pharmacist.

Sometime after the census the family adopted the Gaines surname. Gaines’ brother, Arthur Charles Gaines, signed his World War II draft card on April 29, 1943. His address was 720 West 170th Street, Apt. 6C, New York, New York.

When and how Gaines met Louis Francis Lovelace is not known. On October 16, 1944, they married in California. A 1944 voter register said he was a Republican who lived in Los Angeles at 337 North Benton Way. His occupation was writer.

At some point, Gaines returned to New York where she found some work in the comic book industry. Using the pen name Lynne Evans, she contributed to Sensation Comics numbers 39 and 40 here and here. She was mentioned in Women and the Comics (1985). Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 said she contributed stories for Hop Harrigan who appeared in All-American Comics.

Gaines’s letter to the editor was published in the New York newspaper PM, October 1, 1946. (See subhead “Not All Black and White”)

According to the 1950 census Gaines/Lynne Lovelace (line 19) was separated and had a three-year-old daughter, Laurette. She lived with her parents at 720 West 170th Street in Manhattan.

From 1948 to 1950, Gaines/Lynne Lovelace advertised editorial and typing services in Writer’s Digest and Saturday Review. Below are some examples.

Writer’s Digest, February 1948

Writer’s Digest, October 1949

Saturday Review, April 2, 1949

Saturday Review, April 22, 1950

Classified advertisements also appeared in the The New York Times Book Review which were collected in a 1970 book.

Typing—Ghostwriting—Lynne Lovelace, 720 West 170th, N.Y. 32, WA 8-4620.

The Social Security Death Index has a Lynne Lovelace who was born on May 16, 1919 which was ten days earlier than the birth date stated at the beginning of the profile. She passed away in July 1980 and her last residence was the Bronx.